Provision of information and advice online about social care choices - opportunities for creating and sharing content

09 March 2016

This is a free event for social care managers who have responsibility for online information and advice services in West Midlands councils with responsibility for social care. 40 places available with at least one place reserved for each local authority.

The event provides an opportunity to:

share experience as local authorities about developing and running social care information and advice services

share experience about usage and feedback of these services

hear about the ‘content offers’ of key public, private and voluntary sector information and advice providers

develop ideas about future development and direction of such services

discuss and agree regional responses to challenges around the information and advice requirement

The Care Act requires local authorities to establish and maintain an information and advice service about all care and support services (not just those provided by the council) in their area. This service must cover the needs of all its population, not just those who are supported by the local authority.

This requirement is linked to new duties to promote wellbeing and prevent or postpone the need for care and support among the local population. It is also informed by the need to contain demand for state funded health and social care services.

Local authorities have responded to the information and advice challenge by providing a range of online services embracing directories of local services, e-marketplaces, care matching services and re-vamped webpages describing their own services.

At the same time, a wealth of other content has become available online from providers including the NHS Choices/NHS.UK; voluntary sector organisations like Age UK and SOLLA; publishers like Which?; and public/private commercial marketplaces like e-breeze.

Programme

0900 Registration and coffee

0930 Introduction by chair, Jenny Wood, Head of Social Care and Support, Warwickshire County Council

and West Midlands ADASS Informatics Lead.

0940 Show and tell: in a closed session (local authorities, IEWM and other public sector only) a number of

the local authorities represented will present the ‘story so far’ in their provision of information & advice

online:

what is their provision

what external suppliers are being used

why did they go down that route

usage and feedback

next steps

1115 Coffee and networking

1145 Provider session one:

NHS Choices: Simon Dixon, Digital Services Manager, NHS England

Which?: Emma Callery, Editor, Which? Elderly Care

SOLLA: Jane Finnerty or Tish Hanifan, Joint Chair Society of Later Life Advisers